The Gilded Cage by Vic James is a 2017 Del Ray publication.
Those who follow my reviews will notice there is a conspicuous absence of anything young aThe Gilded Cage by Vic James is a 2017 Del Ray publication.
Those who follow my reviews will notice there is a conspicuous absence of anything young adult, or dystopian on my reading list.
Like anything else, readers go through trends where certain genres get hot for a time, but soon burn out as readers slowly return to their usual reading fare.
If I were the gambling type, I would have bet that the young adult dystopian 'trend' would be a short- lived trend, and I admit, I would have been happy to see the back of it.
However, the ‘trend’ hasn’t lost much steam, and appears to be stubbornly hanging on for the long haul.
Still, neither one of these genres appeals to me all that much, so I’ve pretty much avoided anything that reeks of YA or dystopian themes, despite their extreme popularity.
However, this one came highly recommended to me and the premise sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a go, with a very cautiously optimistic mindset.
The novel is set in Britain, in an alternate dystopian realm, where there are ‘equals’, a small group of people who usually have ‘skills’, running the country. Any of the remaining population born without ‘skills’ are forced to spend a decade of their lives serving ‘slave days’. Those who complete the ‘days’ have better opportunities in life once they have served their time.
Abi’s plan was to have her family, as a complete unit, serve their decade together, so that they could look forward to a better future. But, you know what they say about the best made plans.
Abi’s brother, Luke, is separated from the family, and forced to work hard labor, while the rest of the family got cushy jobs by comparison.
Abi swears she will find a way to free Luke of his circumstances, but the family gets swept away by ‘palace intrigue', while Luke becomes a part of a resistance movement.
The story switches back and for the between Abi’s and Luke’s perspective situations, building the suspense against an obvious politically charged atmosphere. The author does an excellent job of creating vivid descriptions and scenery, as well as the taut edginess that surrounds the Hadley family as they adjust to their new surroundings and learn the lay of the land. However, there were many characters, some without much development, but in a way that did mask the true nature of some of them, which kept me from figuring out hidden motives, and from the ability to fully trust any of them.
Yet, the story did get a little messy in spots, but rebounded quite nicely to conclude with a few stunning developments which commanded my rapt attention.
With a sense of duty and fair play, I feel I should warn you, although you probably already know, that this is a trilogy, which means a continuing storyline, aka, cliffhanger. In any other genre, that wouldn’t fly with me, but in these situations, it’s pretty much a given, so I wasn’t surprised or angered by it.
This is a debut novel, and as such, the author made a terrific first impression. I fully intend on completing the series and eagerly await the second installment!!
I think this book is true to the genre, but is also an unusual and fresh approach to the dystopian novel. Fans of this genre should gobble this one up enthusiastically, but this novel does have the potential for a wider appeal, outside its core fan base. So, even if this type of book is not your usual cuppa, I think you might find yourself very intrigued by it.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a 1985 publication.
This year I’ve been trying to add books into my reading schedule that 'the entire world hThe Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a 1985 publication.
This year I’ve been trying to add books into my reading schedule that 'the entire world has read but me.' This book falls into that category, I think. As it happens, I had downloaded this book from the Kindle Unlimited library a long while back but kept putting it off.
To be honest Dystopian literature is not my favorite. I have dabbled in the genre, but usually, I give it a pass. Not only that, something about all the comparisons to current events made the book feel intimidating and it made me nervous. I’m already in a constant state of anxiety and didn’t know if I wanted to read something that was going to add to it.
Sure enough, right off the bat, I was on edge. I see where the comparisons are coming from now. But I don’t think Margaret Atwood had a crystal ball back in 1985 when this book was first published. That is why I felt this book was so unsettling.
Society, not just in America, but everywhere, has seen periods of progress, followed by enormous setbacks in human rights of all types. Obviously, this novel addresses the rights of women and the LGBTQ community. Religious extremes have prompted some serious conversations about this book, but the set up here, in my opinion, is a means to an end.
Now that I’ve skated past that land -mine-
What I took away from this story was a that it was an important cautionary tale. It’s a strong lesson in complacency which is the most prominent theme, and the one I feel has the most urgency. Today we toss around phrases like ‘new normal’ or ‘normalizing’, which sends chills down my spine.
While this is a fictional story, it does have a basis in real history, revealing cycles of progression and regression.
Is that how we lived, then? But we lived as usual. Everyone does, most of the time. Whatever is going on is as usual. Even this is as usual, now. We lived, as usual, by ignoring. Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it. Nothing changes instantly: in a gradually heating bathtub you’d be boiled to death before you knew it.
Overall, I’m glad I finally got around to reading this book. It gave me the willies, but it has also given me a lot to chew on. It pretty much sums up my feelings about resting on the laurels of those who have made sacrifices and did the grunt work for the privileges enjoyed by women today.
This book should be a lesson to us all. Complacency comes with consequences. Let’s make sure we never take our rights for granted, and that we continue to fight the good fight for ourselves and future generations.
The Circle by Dave Eggers is a 2013 Knopf publication.
This book was recommended to me by someone recently, but I wasn’t sure if it was really my kindThe Circle by Dave Eggers is a 2013 Knopf publication.
This book was recommended to me by someone recently, but I wasn’t sure if it was really my kind of book. Many folks had marked it as ‘Dystopian’ and I’m not as big on that trend as everyone else, so I waffled a little, but ultimately chose to borrow it from the library.
Reading the editorial reviews, one described this book as a parable. I can’t think of a more apt word than that for this novel.
Even in just three short years, since this book was published, many of the very things the novel cautions us about are coming to fruition. Frankly, this book was rather startling and scarier than anything I could have chosen in the paranormal or horror genre.
This is an interesting expose that naturally conjures up images of various ‘tech campuses’, and our loss of privacy in the social media age.
There are interesting parallels and a lot to mull over in this cautionary tale, and overall, the story is well written, suspenseful, and doesn’t seem all that far -fetched, in fact much of it is plausible, which is what I found so disturbing about it.
While this sort of book is not usually my cup of tea, and you won’t see me searching out similar material anytime soon, I have to confess I liked the book better than I thought I would, and can understand why is was recommended to me. It is definitely thought provoking, chilling, and had me turning and tossing for a couple of nights wondering if we are heading in exactly this direction….
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